Tendon guards are known to be used on hockey skates to protect the Achilles heel of the skater from being cut from another ice skate blade or from any other type of impact from another skater.
While tendon guards are capable of providing protection, the implementation of the tendon guard could result in a loss of flexibility of the skater's foot. More specifically, tendon guards which are too rigid can be obstructive to the extension of a skater's foot which regularly occurs during skating maneuvers. Such an obstruction is uncomfortable and undesirable for a skater as it can substantially affect performance.
As such, some tendon guards have been constructed with substantially flexible material in order to accommodate the flexing action of a skater's foot. However, a skater is often limited by the design of the manufacturer in terms of the flexibility provided by the tendon guard. As such, skaters may be more likely to omit the use of the tendon guard than to search for a skate or tendon guard providing the desired level of flexibility.
Furthermore, it can be understood that a variety of different skaters are likely to have different needs (and preferences) with regard to the level of flexibility of the tendon guard. For example, some skater's may prefer a tendon guard which exhibits a high level of flexibility while other may prefer a more rigid tendon guard. In addition, individual preferences may change over time, thereby further highlighting the deficiency of prior art tendon guards which are produced with a predefined flexibility. Accordingly, there is an ongoing need in the industry for an improved skate boot structure which overcomes the aforementioned problems and which can accommodate a plurality of different skating styles, modes, types or fashions, as well as the need to provide a skate boot wherein the skater may adjust the flexibility of the tendon guard between different flexion modes.